1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for processing mailpieces that have been dropped into mail drop boxes, whereby a plurality of mailpieces are collected and then transported in transportation containers to postal centers and are sorted in the postal centers by means of sorting devices according to postal categories.
2. Description of Related Technology
Methods of this generic type are being used by postal service providers worldwide for millions of letters daily.
One prior-art method of this type is known from EP 1 072 328 A2. This method involves sorting mailpieces during their transportation on conveyor belts according to postal categories. During the transportation of the mailpieces on the conveyor belt, the weight and the dimensions of the mailpieces are ascertained. Subsequently, on the basis of the determined weight and the determined dimensions, the mailpieces are classified in postal categories and systematically ejected from the area of the conveyor belt.
FR 2 637 823 relates to a device for automatically sorting envelopes with which envelopes of various formats are delivered in a container, aligned in a special manner, and are then removed from the container in groups and fed to the sorting device. After a singulation step, the size of the envelopes is determined by means of specially arranged light barriers and the envelopes are diverted into different containers on the basis of their size.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,136,780 describes a singulation and sorting system with which the mailpieces are first placed into an input hopper and then separated by an inclined conveyor. Via a controllable receiving station, the mailpieces then reach one of several singulation sections which are followed by a device in which photocells ascertain the dimensions of the mailpieces. Subsequently, the mailpieces are diverted and stacked according to their dimensions.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,017 discloses a device for sorting mailpieces with which the mailpieces, sorted according to address, are diverted into buffer receptacles in which the mailpieces become arranged in stacks. Once a buffer receptacle is filled, the mailpieces are emptied in an output receptacle.
Moreover, EP 0 436 521 A2 describes a method and a device for identifying mailpieces in order to mark “zip-code” segments in stacks of mailpieces. Here, stacks of mailpieces are placed into a hopper and then singulated. A reader then ascertains the “zip code” and the mailpieces are provided with a first identification mark at a certain position, which is changed when the “zip code” is changed, and they are likewise provided with an identification mark whose position is changed every time the first three digits of the “zip code” changes. Subsequently, the mailpieces are stacked.
With the known methods of this type, the contents of the transportation containers are tipped out, immediately placed onto conveyor belts and ejected on the conveyor belts from a predefined conveying sequence according to postal categories.
Methods are likewise known with which mailers of mailpieces sort the mailpieces according to sorting criteria specified by the particular postal service provider and then mail them according to this sorting. The mail that has been presorted in this manner is subsequently taken directly to an appropriate processing station according to the complete presorting that was systematically undertaken by the mailer.
Moreover, in the state of the art, several non-generic product recognition systems are known. The prior-art product recognition systems allow the recognition of objects preferably by means of computer-aided optical scanning devices.
A known non-generic product recognition system is described in European patent EP 0 685 814 B1 and in its German counterpart DE 695 18 947 T2. This known product recognition system allows the identification, classification, evaluation and verification of objects. By using computer systems that make evaluations on the basis of target object images, it is possible to achieve teachable object recognition and consequently to depict numerous objects. This known non-generic method is especially well-suited for distinguishing between various kinds of fruit.
Moreover, numerous automatic control systems for robots are known in the state of the art.
A non-generic automatic control system with a robot-controlled manipulation means is known from EP 0 251 441 B1 and in its German counterpart DE 37 88 596 T2. This known automatic control system allows the guidance of a manipulation means as a function of determined information. Its use in laboratory systems is explained here by way of an application example for this automatic control system.